I have been a fan of Jake's playing for about 20 years. Honestly, I really don't even listen to other guitarists much anymore. Jake suits my own playing/listening tastes very well and my style is modeled on his.

I am 38 y.o., married, two kids, work in an insurance company in Iowa, and I am a PhD candidate (degree ABD status!! yay!!!), writing my doctoral dissertation.

I met Jake at a Wicked Alliance show 4/17/94 at Big Dog's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He gave me two picks, his autograph, and had his picture taken with me. Very good memories! The bar had mis-billed the show as "the Jake E. Lee Band", so not many were there. This made for a much more intimate performance, and some face time with the man.

One thing that impresses me most about Jake's performance is his consumate professionalism. Jake is a pro....and he performs like one. I just recently got A Fine Pink Mist for my birthday, hence the board name. I haven't listened to anything else for about a week.

Interestingly, I can get a good generic Jake tone from my Gibson MIII, a guitar cord, and my Fender Prosonic combo. I am glad for the board.

seasons wrote:Was either of the picks a "Ray Who?" one? If so, what color? Did you hold on to them?

No, the picks were like a Fender heavy tortoise shell color but they just had his signature embossed on the pics in gold paint on one side. The other side was plain. They had no brand name listed, but they are definitely heavy picks.

I was extremely pleased with myself, because the pick wear looked just like my own, where the opposing edges wear away at about a 45 degree angle and leave pick dust all over the guitar. As per the OP, I model my playing very closely on his, including his infamous pick attack. The only thing that revealed they were Jake's and not mine (besides his signature, I mean) was the grooves cut in the edges from doing pick slides. He did this weird thing where he uses his thumb as a capo and frets really wide intervals. Well, you can tell he uses those grooves in the picks to accentuate the picking when he hits the notes that way, combining to make a very strange effect that only Jake uses.

And yes, Jake makes a very good impression. While he was on stage playing he handed the picks directly to me, sticking them in my hand and making sure I had a grip on them before he released them. He wanted to make sure I got them because he could tell from how I just watched him and ignored the rest of the band that I was there to see him, and I most certainly was. That was a very intimate gesture that only one guitar player to another would perform. He had nothing but kind words when I asked for the autograph and photo.

Now, for those who have not met Jake, somebody lists on his bios that he is 5' 9" tall. That ain't right. Trust me. He MIGHT be 5' 2"....his head came up to my chin. He is a little guy with little hands and shortish fingers.....which makes his playing all the more phenomenal, because he isn't tall and scrawny like Vai with 5-inch fingers.

Gonzo wrote:Can you post pictures of the picks? I`d like to see what grooves you mean!

I don't have a digital camera, so it might be awhile!

Take one of th elong edges of a pick and hold it perpendicular to the long axis of all the strings, at a 90 degree angle to the guitar pickups. Scrape the E, A, and D strings to make grooves in the pick.

Soulfinger, Welcome to the board. I was also at that show at Big Dogs. Several friends and I were hanging around out front that afternoon and got to meet Jake as he arrived. The band was inside doing soundcheck as Jake pulled in. He greeted us and said he had to go as the band was playing without him. We were all bummed and when he saw this he said he could hang for a few minutes. Out come the records, guitars & camera! He was very cool, signed everything and took pictures. Everyone but me got a pick from him, he didn't have enough in his pocket for all of us. Really a nice guy. And the show rocked!!